Whales & Wildness: Spring in the Sea of Cortez on National Geographic Venture

Whales & Wildness: Spring in the Sea of Cortez

Whales, wildness & wonder in a living sea

Unique, immersive style of travel
The Sea of Cortez in spring is among the best times and places to see a great variety of whales—humpback, sperm, fin, Bryde’s, and blue whales—plus large aggregations of dolphins. Sail the Sea of Cortez, exploring its many islands free from tourist infrastructure and designated a UNESCO World

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Whales & Wildness: Spring in the Sea of Cortez

Whales, wildness & wonder in a living sea

Unique, immersive style of travel
The Sea of Cortez in spring is among the best times and places to see a great variety of whales—humpback, sperm, fin, Bryde’s, and blue whales—plus large aggregations of dolphins. Sail the Sea of Cortez, exploring its many islands free from tourist infrastructure and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. An expedition of pure discovery, a flexible itinerary means we’re free to follow the seasonal movements of wildlife to optimize sightings. Sailing aboard the 62-guest National Geographic Sea Bird or National Geographic Sea Lion, fully equipped with tools for exploration, will enable you to:

Search for large pods of dolphins and various species of whales—blue, sperm, pilot, fin, humpback, and Bryde’s—all in the same week.

Visit the old mining town of Santa Rosalia, with its wooden homes and historic steel church, designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Experience a voyage of pure discovery in a UNESCO World Heritage site, with a flexible itinerary and sites chosen by the region’s most knowledgeable staff, based on conditions and to maximize wildlife sightings.

Conditions permitting, visit Isla Rasa, where 90% of the world’s Heermann’s gulls and the elegant tern comes to breed.

When completed, National Geographic Venture will be the perfect ship to explore Alaska’s Inside Passage and beyond. To build her and her sister ship, National Geographic Quest, we turned to Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, the company that built the beloved National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion—vessels that, with our regular maintenance schedule and refurbishments have been operating successfully for decades. Nichols Brothers has been building boats on beautiful Whidbey Island, Washington since 1964 and we are proud that the Venture and Quest will be the first expedition ships of their kind to be purposefully designed and built for expedition travel and made entirely in the U.S.

Designed with over 50 years of expedition heritage, National Geographic Venture is able to explore the same remote locations we’ve sought out for decades while setting a new standard in comfort and style. She will follow National Geographic Quest in featuring step-out balconies (available in 22 of the 50 spacious cabins), plus 6 sets of connecting cabins for families and groups; a Sun Deck bar, and a designated mudroom for expedition gear.

Equipped for comfort and active exploration
Comfortably accommodating 100 guests, Venture is larger than the 62-guest Sea Bird and Sea Lion, but has the same shallow draft depth, allowing us to navigate the same inner reaches and provide the same intimate experiences of the charismatic regions we explore. Her twin expedition craft landing platforms allow us to rapidly get on and off the ship to take advantage of wildlife sightings and to ensure we maximize our time off the ship exploring. Designed with decades of expedition experience in the region, the purpose-built vessel also features open decks, generous windows, and specialty tools for exploration—the ideal platform for sailing into the fast-moving channels and shallow coves of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest and for exploring the tropical waterways of Central America.

Why Lindblad-National Geographic?
A Lindblad-National Geographic expedition is arguably the most exhilarating overseas adventure travel experience a person can have. Nothing else comes close to approximating its authenticity and all-five-senses engagement. We offer you the world’s ultimate, authentic expedition experience: Discover the planet’s most remarkable places, accompanied by experts able to illuminate all you see, and with cool tools to use to explore up close and personal
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Why Lindblad-National Geographic?
A Lindblad-National Geographic expedition is arguably the most exhilarating overseas adventure travel experience a person can have. Nothing else comes close to approximating its authenticity and all-five-senses engagement. We offer you the world’s ultimate, authentic expedition experience: Discover the planet’s most remarkable places, accompanied by experts able to illuminate all you see, and with cool tools to use to explore up close and personally.

Venture safely to the planet’s wild, remote places
Our cruise ship fleet consists of nimble, intimately-scaled expedition ships, able to safely venture where larger cruise ships cannot. This allows us to offer authentic, up-close experiences in the planet’s wild, remote places and capitals of culture. More than comfortable as your base for exploring, our National Geographic luxury cruise ships are outfitted with cool tools that enable a genuine connection with the places we visit and offer inviting private accommodations, and gracious public spaces for our expedition community to gather.